Ceasefire, end siege, free hostages, reconstruct Gaza
Israeli minister Benny Gantz recently issued a threat that if the Israeli hostages held by Hamas are not released by 10 March, the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a planned assault on Rafah, where half of Gaza’s population is now sheltering, would take place. Such an assault would inevitably lead to many thousands of civilian deaths, as homeless refugees would have no means of escaping the Israeli onslaught. At the time of writing, negotiations between Israel, the US, Egypt, France and Qatar, the latter acting as a mediator for Hamas, were continuing, with a view to reaching a...